I once worked a job that destroyed a part of me for a few years. I was asked to do more than I could handle, but I was too afraid to admit I couldn’t do it. I was set up to fail, and it sucked.

For years I looked back on that time in my life and only remembered how awful it was. I felt physically sick just thinking about being summoned by my boss to talk about all my problems and how I was going to fix them.

As time has passed, I’ve realized that this awful experience is actually interesting. Isn’t it interesting how toxic workplace culture influences us? Isn’t it interesting how different people lead? Isn’t it interesting how people behave when they’re uncertain and afraid?

Rather than focusing on the negative, I started being more interested in understanding what happened and why it happened. And honestly, I believe that staying curious has made all the difference between feeling ashamed and feeling transformed and empowered by that experience.

I think the same is true for most things in life: The moment when something awful happens is usually the moment where interesting begins, as long as we’re committed to curiosity.